I was inspired today!

A year ago we started an advisory committee to help guide our social enterprise and employment project called PEER Connections. 5 community members agreed to join us and share their insights and passion for working with youth who find themselves at risk. We had our first meeting of the Fall today and I was inspired in several ways:

• I was inspired by the obvious passion and commitment of these 5 people to join us on a Friday at noon. Thank you.
• I was inspired when one of the committee members told us how she heard a couple of seniors planning their lunch dates at our cafe
• I was inspired by another committee member's comment that "we [this project] have enough success now and it's time to celebrate it." I was inspired by the ownership evident by the use of "we" and that we are making a difference in people's lives.
• I was inspired by a young man who told us how he moved from gang activity and hopelessness to feeling really good about himself.  He mentioned several times that "people like me here." He expressed how he wanted to share with others how "working hard gets you places" and how it "feels good to come here."
• I was inspired by the committee members' long list of very useful suggestions on how to tell our stories like the one we heard from this young man. (placemats with quotes/short messages, a cookbook of recipes and stories, stories written in local papers, etc.)
• I was inspired by our staff member who took the difficult path by including someone in the project who was risky and how this has worked out great.
• I was inspired by how a group of 6 young men and several staff "became like a family by the 2nd day" working in this project.

Thank you for inspiring me. I hope you also felt a connection to something good.

How were you inspired today?

Walking A Little Bit Taller

A local businessman that I know referred a young man to come talk with me this morning. This young man told me part of his story and highlighted that he just wanted to continue getting better and maintain the positive direction in his life. Unfortunately, some of the people closest to him were dragging him down. It was clear to me that he needed someone to listen and try to help him out. He walked slowly and kept his eyes down at the floor most of the time. He looked like he was running out of reasons to keep fighting.

One of our staff members took the time to sit with him and listen to him. After he left, I asked our staffperson how she felt about the meeting. She replied that, "He was thankful and walked a little bit taller when he left." Some time spent listening and a few practical suggestions made a big difference in this young person's life.

As someone very wise said, "A person will eventually forget what you said to him/her, might forget what you did to him/her, but they will never forget how you made him/her feel."

Thank you to this Open Door staff member, and all of our staff, who help youth walk a little taller. You have made a difference in someone's life.

Planning for Serendipity

It feels like we have turned a corner. (at least for this week!) As with most organizations we have spent countless hours finding funding to build our services. Most of this growth has been in small increments. Some years our funding stayed the some and other years maybe resulted in an increase in a part time staff position. More recently we have seen some dramatic growth.

Over the last 5 years our core budget has tripled. We have been successful in accessing several grants that have helped us to strengthen existing services and start new ones. Community members are starting to see the Open Door as a place where creative things get done. This week, I had two local professionals meet with me to discuss new opportunities. One of them is even going to look for funding on our behalf! It is an exciting time.

Many experts highlight the importance of strategic planning as a necessity for organizations to plan for the future. I wish that our growth was a result of a great 3-5 year plan that was carried out with conviction. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Planning for serendipity is an approach in developing organizational readiness or nimbleness. I believe it is essential for an organization to be prepared to act quickly rather than having everything lined up ahead of time. Things around us are changing so quickly it is hard to predict what is going to happen, but we can be ready for things to happen. When opportunities present themselves it is important to jump in.

In retrospect, how did we plan for serendipity?

• We have people working in the organization that are not afraid of change and are able to respond quickly. The staff and volunteers have been key.
• Our board was willing to stick their necks out and purchased our facility 3 years ago. The facility is key in our ability to try new things.
• We have worked really hard at profile raising. We started holding community events like a bed race and golf tournament several years ago. These have been key in introducing a diverse group of people to our organization. Events don't raise a huge amount of money. (at least ours don't!) I estimated that it cost us about $0.70 to raise $1 in our annual golf tournament.  
• We aren't afraid to make mistakes. We held a BBQ 3 years ago at a teen dance with over 400 people and didn't sell ONE hamburger.
• Relationship building has been key. We've tried to get to know local newspaper reporters and joined as many committees as possible.

Some of this may change if we suddenly have a funding cut, but I'm confident that we will be able to respond.

What aspects of planning for serendipity have you experienced?

Black Numbers Are Good Red Numbers are Bad

I've spent the last week poring over financial reports for one of our funders. As a nonprofit agency director much of my time is spent identifying gaps in our budget, looking for funding and trying to find ways to make ends meet. It can be a real headache balancing different fiscal years and reporting requirements.

Sometimes I wish our budget could be portrayed accurately with an easy profit and loss spreadsheet. I Tweeted my issue (@OpenDoorED) and a business friend of mine responded with the title of this blog posting. It makes sense to me from a business perspective that budgets are pretty clear cut. Either you are making money or you are losing money. Does this work for a social agency like the Camrose Open Door Association?

On a literal level the answer to this question is obvious. Of course, we need to try to match our spending with our income or we won't last long as an organization. However, on a deeper level, the value of what we do is not accurately portrayed by a budget number. Are we willing to spend more to make a difference in someone's life? How do we quantify the social return on investment of programs like ours?

Red numbers might indicate an unmet (unfinanced need) that our organization is working to fill. For example, providing housing to youth in our community. We feel that providing this service is essential to our mission and needs to be done. A red number on our financial report might highlight an area where we are best fulfilling our mission.

Part of my job as ED is to identify these red numbers, ensure they are important to our mission and find ways to pay for them. Maybe they aren't so bad after all.

Any suggestions?